“Everything is in the language that we do NOT use”

If Long Soldier, hypothetically, said “Everything is in the language we do NOT use” that would imply that the most significant information is what is being left out. She would, therefore, say that we need to figure out what is being left out and why. This idea forms the poem, “The President Has Never Said The Word ‘Black’” written by Morgan Parker.

Morgan’s poem addresses race while intentionally keeping the word black out. Instead of saying black, she decides to leave a space or forget the word entirely. She says, “The pursuit of happiness is guaranteed for all fellow Americans”, when it should be “the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed for all fellow black Americans”. She also says “The president is all like five on the bleep hand side”, when instead of bleep, it should say black. This poem was written during the presidency of Barack Obama, and she most likely felt that the president was keeping the word “black” and racial issues of the United States, outside of the media and the world. She most likely mentions the last part, “When he opens his mouth a chameleon is inside, starving.” to criticize that when the president opens his mouth, his words change to what he thinks people want to hear, and not what needs to be said.

Morgan Parker wants us, the reader, to feel as if we are being withheld important information and take the information given to us as a grain of salt. President Obama, who is black, has never mentioned the word black and always went around it. There obviously must have been a political strategy as to why he decided not to bring race into conversation. If we do not know we can be easily manipulated. As goes the saying, “Ignorance is bliss” because nothing will ever change, since we are too ignorant to even realize there is a problem.